FLIR Raymarine p70s - Checking Autopilot Operation

8.10Checkingautopilotoperation
Aftercompletingcalibration,checkthebasicautopilot
operation,asfollows:
1.Steerontoacompassheadingandholdasteady
courseatnormalcruisingspeed.Ifnecessary,
steerthevesselmanuallyforashorttimeto
checkhowthevesselsteers.
2.Ensureitissafetoengagetheautopilot,then
pressAUTOtolockontothecurrentheading.
Theautopilotshouldholdaconstantheadingin
calmseaconditions.
3.Use-1,+1,-10and+10ortheROTARY
controller,toseehowtheSmartPilotaltersthe
coursetoportandstarboard.
4.PressSTANDBYtoreturntomanualsteering.
Checkingruddergain
Todeterminewhethertheruddergainissetcorrectly,
carryoutthefollowingtest:
D12107-1
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2
3
ItemDescription
1.Ruddergaintoolow
2.RuddergaintooHigh
3.
Correctruddergain
1.Ensureyouhavesettheautopilotresponseto
level5.
2.Driveyourvesselatatypicalcruisingspeedin
clearwater.
Itiseasiertorecognizethesteeringresponsein
calmseaconditionswherewaveactiondoesnot
masksteeringperformance.
3.PressAUTOtoenterAutomode,thenalter
courseby40°:
•Thiscoursechangeshouldresultinacrispturn
followedbyanovershootofnomorethan5°,If
theruddergainisadjustedcorrectly.
•Ifthecoursechangecausesadistinct
overshoot(morethan5°)and/orthereisa
distinct‘S’inthecoursetheruddergainistoo
high.
•Ifthevessel’sperformanceissluggishandit
takesalongtimetomakethe40°turn,withno
overshoottheruddergainistoolow.
Ifnecessary,adjusttheruddergain.
Checkingcounterrudder
Counterrudderistheamountofrudderyourautopilot
appliestotrytopreventyourvesselfromover
steering.Ahighercounterruddersettingresultsin
morerudderbeingapplied.
Tocheckthecounterruddersetting:
1.Ensureyouhavesettheautopilotresponseto
level5.
2.Driveyourvesselatatypicalcruisingspeedin
clearwater.
3.PressAUTOandifnecessaryengagethe
autopilot.
4.Makea90°coursechange:
•Whenruddergainandcounterrudderareboth
setcorrectly,thevesselperformsasmooth
continuousturnwithminimalovershoot.
•Ifthecounterrudderistoolow,thevesselwill
overshootbeforereturningslowlytothecourse.
•Ifcounterrudderistoohigh,thevesselwill
‘ght’theturnandmakeaseriesofshort,
sharpturns.Thisresultsinavery‘mechanical’
feelasthevesselchangescourse.
5.Ifnecessary,adjustthecounterruddersetting.
CounterRudderisavailablefromtheDrive
Settingsmenu:Menu>Set-up>Autopilot
Calibration>DriveSettings>CounterRudder.
RudderDamping
Iftheautopilotis‘hunting’(i.e.continuouslymoving
thesteeringbackwardsandforwardsbysmall
amounts)whentryingtopositiontherudder,the
rudderdampingsettingwillrequireadjustmentto
minimizethis.
Increasingtherudderdampingvaluereduces
hunting.Therudderdampingvalueshouldbe
increased1levelatatimeuntiltheautopilotstops
hunting.Alwaysensurethelowestacceptablevalue
isused.
IfrequiredtheRudderDampingsettingcanbe
adjustedfromtheDriveSettingsmenu:Menu>
Set-up>AutopilotCalibration>DriveSettings>
RudderDamping.
AutoTrimsettings
AutoTrimdetermineshowquicklytheautopilot
applies‘standinghelm’tocorrectfortrimchanges,
caused,forexample,bychangesinthewindload
onthesuperstructure,oranimbalanceofengines.
IncreasingtheAutoTrimlevelreducesthetimethe
autopilottakestoreturntothecorrectcourse,but
makesthevessellessstable.Iftheautopilot:
•Givesunstablecoursekeepingandthevessel
‘snakes’aroundthedesiredcourse,decreasethe
AutoTrimlevel.
•Hangsoffcourseforexcessiveperiodsoftime,
increasetheAutoTrimlevel.
Commissioning-SPXandSmartPilotsystems
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